Arsacid Empire
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The Arsacid Empire (Persian: اشکانیان [Ashkanian]) (247 BC - 224 AD), was an Iranian significant political and cultural power in the ancient Near East,[1] and a counterweight to the Roman Empire in the region. Its ruling dynasty was founded by Arsaces, hence the origin of the term "Arsacid". The Arsacid dynasts were from Parthia ("roughly western Khurasan"[2] in Iran's north-east), and the Empire is thus also referred to as the Parthian Empire.
Overlapping with and a regional successor of the Seleucids and other Diadochi epigonoi, the Arsacids were – unlike the epigonoi – an indigenous Iranian dynasty, albeit a Hellenistic one whose monarchs identified themselves on their coins as philhellenes "friend of Greeks." The Arsacid's Hellenism was subsequently portrayed by the Persians as a betrayal of Iranian values, and thus a justification to overthrow them. This portrayal as morally and culturally corrupt was followed by academia for decades, but there is today significant evidence that the Arsacids not only saw themselves as legitimate heirs of the "(divinely bestowed) Iranian glory", but were committed to the idea of an Iranian nation.[3]
During the peak of the empire, the Arsacids had subjugated most of Greater Iran, Mesopotamia, and Armenia. But unlike most other Iranian monarchies, the Arsacids followed a vassalary system, which they adopted from the Seleucids. The Arsacid Empire was thus not a single coherent state, but instead made up of numerous tributary (but otherwise independent) kingdoms.
The Arsacids were in an almost perpetual state of war, either to capture and hold territory from the Seleucids, or to prevent vassal states from breaking away, or defending themselves against the Roman Empire in the west and nomadic tribes in the east. Economically and militarily severely weakened by the incessant warring, and from the infighting among the Parthian nobility, the Parthian Arsacids were finally vanquished by the Persian Sassanids, a minor vassal from southwestern Iran, around AD 220. In Armenia, a branch of the Arsacid dynasty continued to rule their kingdom until the 5th century.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early period
Around 250 BC, Arsaces I became the leader of the Parni, a north-eastern Iranian tribe. Under his command, the Parni established themselves in Astabene, the administrative capital of which was Kabuchan. In ca. 247 BC, Arsaces was crowned king in "Asaak" (precise location unknown, probably near Kuchan), an event that in Arsacid chronology was understood to mark the beginning of the Arsacid epoch.
Meanwhile, Andragoras, the Seleucid governor of Parthia, proclaimed independence and established his own kingdom. Around 238 BC, Arsaces and the Parni battled Andragoras, during the course of which Andragoras was killed, and Arsaces captured Andragoras' kingdom.
From the base in Parthia (and from then identified as Parthian), Arsaces then ventured westwards and seized Hyrcania. Around 230 BC, the Seleucids mounted a counter-campaign to recapture Parthia, but failed. In 209 BC, by which time Arsaces I had died and control had passed to Arsaces II, the Seleucids under Antiochus III attempted to recapture Parthia again. Antiochus occupied Parthia's capital at Hecatompylus, then pushed into Hyrcania before Arsaces II recognized Seleucid authority.
Soon afterwards Antiochus was defeated by the Romans, which severely weakened the Seleucids and allowed Parthia to maintain its freedom from the Seleucids. Arsaces II died in 191 BC and was succeeded by Phriapatius.
In 171 BC, Phraates I subdued the Mardi tribe, but was killed in battle against nomads. His brother Mithridates I survived the battle and ascended the throne, and ushered in the period when the Arsacids became a major power.
[edit] Rise to major power
Profiting from the continuing erosion of the Seleucid Empire, Mithridates captured Artacona in 167 BC, which disrupted the trade routes to India and effectively split the Hellenistic world into two parts. The Seleucid monarchs resisted Arsacid expansion as best as they could; Antiochus IV Epiphanes spent his last years campaigning against the newly emerging Iranian states. After initial successes in Armenia, his sudden death in 164 BC allowed the Arsacids to take advantage of the ensuing dynastic squabbles to make even greater gains.
In the second half of 148 BC, Mithridates I conquered Media. About 141 BC, Arsacid troops overwhelmed Mesopotamia and seized the Seleucid capital of Seleucia. Mithridates I had himself crowned king of Seleucia.
Shortly thereafter, around 140 BC, the Empire suffered the first of the eastern incursions by nomads, perhaps Sakas. Mithridates took command himself, even though the Seleucids were preparing to attempt to retake Seleucia. Mithridates repulsed the invasion in the northeast, and then returned to Mesopotamia, where Demetrius II Nicator, who had made some initial gains, was taken prisoner (Demetrius II would be held hostage for 10 years). Around 139/138 BC, shortly before his death, Mithridates also conquered Elymais.
In 130 BC, Antiochus VII Sidetes succeeded in making substantial gains in Babylonia and Media, but the inhabitants of the Seleucid garrison towns revolted and allied themselves with the Arsacids. In the battle that followed in 129 BC against Mithridates I's son and successor Phraates II, the Seleucids suffered a crushing defeat and Antiochus VII was killed. From then on, the Seleucids ceased to be a serious rival to the Arsacids.
By then, the nomads on the eastern frontier had become a serious problem, and in battles with which Phraates II and Artabanus I were successively killed (in 127 BC and in 124 BC respectively). Simultaneously, a new kingdom was formed in Characene, and its king Hyspaosines, succeeded in conquering parts of Mesopotamia, reaching Babylon.
Artabanus I was succeeded by Mithridates II in 124/123 BC. In quick succession, Mithridates II defeated Hyspaosines in ca. 122 BC, subjugated the northern Mesopotamian kingdoms of Adiabene, Gordyene, and Osrhoene as vassal states, and conquered Dura-Europos in 113 BC. In ca. 97 BC, Mithridates II conquered Artavasdes of Armenia, and put Artavasdes' son (or nephew) Tigranes II on the throne in exchange for "70 valleys" (Strabo 11.14.15). The two countries would be in constant contact with each other from then on.
Around 115 BC, Mithridates II was visited by an embassy from the Chinese emperor Wu-ti, and the two agreed to open a trade route today known as the "Silk road". Around 109 BC, Mithridates II assumed the title "King of Kings" (basileus tōn basiléōn), a title that his successors would also bear.
From ca. 105 BC until his death in ca. 88 BC, Mithridates II began to be crippled by a handful of Parthian noble families whose power and influence was such that they frequently opposed the monarch, and would eventually contribute to the downfall of the dynasty. A series of monarchs followed Mithridates II – Gotarzes, Orodes I, Sinatruces, Phraates III – but about whom little but their names is known. The disorder created by the Parthian nobility gave the Armenians the opportunity to reconquer the "seventy valleys" that they had previously ceded to Mithridates II. Phraates III was murdered by his sons Mithridates (III) and Orodes (II), who then began to fight with each other for control.
[edit] Conflict with Rome
In early 53 BC, an ambitious Roman commander, Marcus Licinius Crassus, sought to invade Mesopotamia. He and his army walked into a trap set for them by the Parthian commander Surena, and in the resultant Battle of Carrhae roughly one half of the Roman army of about 40,000 men – including Crassus and his son – were killed. Of the remaining 20,000 men, 10,000 were made captive and only 10,000 were able to escape. The Arsacids did not capitalize on their victory, and Surena was himself executed by Orodes II.
In late 41 BC or early 40 BC, the Arsacid army under the command of Pacorus (son of Orodes II) and Quintus Labienus (who had defected to the Arsacids following the defeat of the Republicans in the Roman civil war) attacked the Romans. The expeditions were initially successful; Pacorus took Syria and Judea, while Labienus occupied large parts of Asia Minor. In 39 BC, the Romans counterattacked, defeating both Labienus and Pacorus and killing both.
Following Pacorus' death, Orodes appointed his eldest son Phraates IV as his successor. Phraates IV promptly murdered his father, and then his other brothers and even his own son. He also began a campaign against the nobility, many of whom left the country. Marc Antony took the opportunity to attack with 100,000 troops in 36 BC. The Roman rear-guard (including provisions and siege engines) was destroyed by an Arsacid attack from the rear, but Anthony continued briefly, briefly laid siege to Phraata/Phraaspa (its exact location is unknown[4], but Ronald Syme believed it was modern Takht-i-Suleiman[5]) but had to retreat when supplies began to run low. Plutarch (Antonius 50) states 24,000 men were lost in the expedition.
In 32 BC/31 BC, civil war broke out when a certain Tiridates rebelled against Phraates IV, probably with the support of the nobility that Phraates had previously persecuted. The revolt was initially successful, but failed by 25 BC. The Romans capitalized on the civil war and in 20 BC marched on Armenia. They also renewed their demands for the standards of the legions that had been seized in battle. Phraates complied, and although the return of standards was seen as a great victory in Rome, there was no battle fought; the Romans recognized the Euphrates as a frontier, and the Arsacids accepted Roman suzerainty over Armenia.
Augustus also sent Phraates IV an Italian slave-girl named Musa, who became the Arsacid's favorite wife and bore him a son. Hoping to avoid any complications over the line of succession, Phraates sent his first four sons to Rome where they would be protected. But Musa had Phraates poisoned and put her son Phraataces on the throne.
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[edit] Contact with China
The Chinese explorer Zhang Qian, who visited the neighbouring countries of Bactria and Sogdiana in 126 BC, made the first known Chinese report on Parthia. In his accounts Parthia is named "Ānxī" (Chinese: 安息), a transliteration of "Arsacid", the name of the Parthian dynasty. Zhang Qian clearly identifies Parthia as an advanced urban civilization that farmed grain and grapes, made silver coins and leather goods;[6] Zhang Qian equates the level of advancement of Parthia to the cultures of Dayuan (in Ferghana) and Daxia (in Bactria).
Anxi is situated several thousand li west of the region of the Great Yuezhi (in Transoxonia). The people are settled on the land, cultivating the fields and growing rice and wheat. They also make wine out of grapes. They have walled cities like the people of Dayuan (Ferghana), the region contains several hundred cities of various sizes. The coins of the country are made of silver and bear the face of the king. When the king dies, the currency is immediately changed and new coins issued with the face of his successor. The people keep records by writing on horizontal strips of leather. To the west lies Tiaozhi (Mesopotamia) and to the north Yancai and Lixuan (Hyrcania).
—Zhang Qian, trans. Burton Watson,Shiji, 123,
Following Zhang Qian's embassy and report, commercial relations between China, Central Asia, and Parthia flourished, as many Chinese missions were sent throughout the 1st century BC:
The largest of these embassies to foreign states numbered several hundred persons, while even the smaller parties included over 100 members... In the course of one year anywhere from five to six to over ten parties would be sent out."
—Zhang Qian, trans. Burton Watson, Shiji
The Parthians were apparently very intent on maintaining good relations with China and also sent their own embassies, starting around 110 BC:
When the Han envoy first visited the kingdom of Anxi (Parthia), the king of Anxi dispatched a party of 20,000 horsemen to meet them on the eastern border of the kingdom... When the Han envoys set out again to return to China, the king of Anxi dispatched envoys of his own to accompany them... The emperor was delighted at this."
—Zhang Qian, trans. Burton Watson, Shiji, 123
In 97 BC, the Han general Ban Chao formed direct military contacts with the Parthian Empire and establish military bases as far west as the Caspian Sea with his cavalry of 70,000 men during expeditions against the Xiongnu, while protecting the trade routes now known as the Silk Road.
Parthians also played a role in the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism from Central Asia to China. An Shih Kao, a Parthian nobleman and Buddhist missionary, went to the Chinese capital Luoyang in 148 where he established temples and became the first man to translate Buddhist scriptures into Chinese.
[edit] Fall
From about AD 220 onwards, a minor Parthian vassal in Persia named Ardashir began to subjugate territories around his city fief, reaching as far east as Kerman, on the margin of the great salt deserts. Artabanus IV proceeded to take counter action in 224, meeting Ardashir in battle at Golpayegan on 28 April 224. Artabanus IV was killed, and the Arsacid Parthian Empire came to an end. The victor crowned himself 'King of Kings of Iran' in 226. Thus the Sassanid Empire was established
[edit] References
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- ^ Waters 1975, p. 424.
- ^ Bickerman 1983, p. 6.
- ^ Neusner 1963, pp. 45-59.
- ^ Schippmann 1987
- ^ Syme, Ronald, Anatolica: Studies in Strabo (Oxford University Press, 1995: ISBN 0198149433), pp. 81-2.
- ^ "Silk Road, North China," C. Michael Hogan, The Megalithic Portal, ed. A. Burnham (2007).
[edit] Bibliography
- Bickerman, Elias J. (1983), "The Seleucid Period", in Yarshater, Ehsan, Cambridge History of Iran, 3.1, London: Cambridge UP, pp. 3-20.
- Bivar, A.D.H. (1983), "The Political History of Iran under the Arsacids", in Yarshater, Ehsan, Cambridge History of Iran, 3.1, London: Cambridge UP, pp. 21-99
- Curtis, Vesta Sarkhosh; Stewart, Sarah, eds. (2007), The Age of the Parthians, Ideas of Iran, vol. 2, London: I. B. Tauris.
- Neusner, J. (1963), "Parthian Political Ideology", Iranica Antiqua 3: 40-59.
- Schippmann, Klaus (1987), "Arsacid ii. The Arsacid dynasty", Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2, New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 526-535.
- Waters, Kenneth H. (1974), "The Reign of Trajan, part VII: Trajanic Wars and Frontiers. The Danube and the East", in Temporini, Hildegard, Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt. Principat. II.2, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, pp. 415-427.
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